Cracked my faithful starboard under my heel in front of rear footstraps the other day. Board was getting a bit soft, but dropped of the back of a swell in marginal conditions which sealed it's fate.
Due to the conditions, took about 25 minutes of slogging to get back to the car during which the affected area was totally submerged and with the crack opening forward suspect it took on a lot of saltwater.
Have been drying the board in the sun and today (day 2) looks as though most of the water has finished bubbling out, but still traces of moisture around the cracks.
My questions to the knowledgable are....
1. How long do you give a board to dry? Normally leave boards in shed for a week or so before repairs but want to be back on water asap; and
2. Was thinking of drilling a fill hole(s) and vent hole through the wood on opposing sides of the soft area and injecting a slushy mix of q-cells and epoxy in to force the deck up. Once cured, reglassing (with heavy weave) the affected area. Anyone had success with this and hints/tips appreciated.
This will be second major repair for this board so close to use-by date and not worried how it looks or weight, just need it to hang in till end of season then it can go to the windsurfer hall of fame.
Thanks

I've dried my board with the plug out in the sun, evaporates all the water and does not cause delamination.

i have a starboard acid and there seems to be no cracks and the board doesn't get heavy when i am done but every time i open the plug i can see bubling water in the plug i recently brought it second hand so don't know history any ideas to what is going wrong

switch101 said...

i have a starboard acid and there seems to be no cracks and the board doesn't get heavy when i am done but every time i open the plug i can see bubling water in the plug i recently brought it second hand so don't know history any ideas to what is going wrong

a few possibilities here, the vent plug sits in a small well. If there's water in there and positive pressure in the board, it will bubble when you open the vent. Not a problem unless there's negative pressure in the board. Then it will suck that water in.
If you have sand under the seal or a dodgy 0 ring, then water can get in.

I had sand under mine once and a bit of water got in.
Fixed it by tearing a long strip off an old towel and stuffed it deep into the hole. Left the board in the sun upside down, on top of trestles, so the wind could get at the towel hanging out.
After a few days the towel was coming out dry.

If you've got more water in from a big ding and a negative pressured board sucking water in.
Then the vacuum pump is a better way.

I'd be very careful using positive pressure, too much and board is history, even with the vent open.
There's not a lot of flow through the vent, pressure could build up beyond safe levels.

You'll more than likely burn a vacuum cleaner out, there's not enough flow to keep it cool.